Hinduism

 

In today’s society, the role of women in Hinduism is highly debated. As times change and women become more and more equal to men, the same has begun to be true in religion, despite many elders who may frown upon these changes.

Regardless, most of the practices associated with women are no longer valid, and women are no longer expected to serve only the roles of mother and obedient wife.

Historically, women have been very important in religious teachings and traditions, but did not serve such a role in daily life.  Women were often thought of as property, first belonging to the parents, and then (with the proper payment from her parents) belonging to her husband. As his wife, she had four roles: as his servant, minister in his decision-making, mother to his children, and as his lover. These were her only tasks, all of which were expected to be performed in the home under his supervision (V 1). The Vedas, religious texts that speak of Hindu tradition, contain passages condoning the burning of a widow on her husband’s funeral pyre, as without his presence, her life no longer contained meaning (Kasem 2). However, like many passages in the Bible, these have been outgrown and are no longer accepted, and are even illegal in some places. In addition to passages that are viewed negatively, there are those that praise women, even depict them as more holy than men because only a woman can create a man (Jain 52).

Women were not always allowed to learn the Vedas, a long process that involves leaving the home under the supervision of a guru, a teacher, who would teach the student of the passages therein, as the Vedas were thought not to be a text that should be written down and read, but rather one that should be taught and recited. Today, rather than being unacceptable, women who learn the Vedas are seen as intellectuals who should be learned from (Study of the Vedas 2).

In regards to equality, religious texts assert, “God does not differentiate between men and women (Jain 19),” and women have their own feminine quality of the divine, called Devi, or Shakti. This quality is believed to be the counterpart of the male aspect, and there are shrines in honor of it in many places of the world where Hinduism is widely practiced. Devi is associated with many spiritual traditions in which men are not permitted to participate, called ‘striikarmani (Jain 34).’ Women are permitted to be priests, but only in the last 200 years, with the aid of reformers such as Dayanand Saraswati, who began the movement for this change, as well as the creation of female ‘Vedic schools,’ where women could go to study the Vedas. Today, women priests are often preferred over their male counterparts because they are seen as “more sincere (Jain 35).”

Women today perform in the majority of festivals and ceremonies, singing or dancing, in events like Balinese or Garba, and have many more rights than in the past (Jain 37). Women were before seen as servants to their husbands, and domestic abuse was often ignored because women were the property of men, and men could treat them however they chose. However, today, “the wife is her husband’s best friend. Whenever men are afflicted with sorrow or are in physical pain, the presence of wives serves to alleviate their suffering jus as a perspiring person feels refreshed after a cool bath. Dharma, acquisition of wealth and pleasure are all dependent on one’s wife. Therefore, even in anger, husbands must never do anything that is disagreeable to their wives (Jain 62).”

The video above is a news report on the increasing number of Hindu women priests, and explains why this is happening, and why these women are often preferred over men.

Jain, Dr. Pankaj. “Women in Hindu Culture.” Women in Hindu Culture | Dr. Pankaj Jain – Academia.edu. Academia.edu, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2012.

Kasem, Abul. “Women in Hinduism.” Women in Hinduism by Abul Kasem. Freethinkers, n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2012.

“Study Of The Vedas.” Study Of The Vedas : Kamakoti.org. Kamakoti, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2012.

V, Jayaram. “Hinduism and Women.” The Status of Women in Hinduism. Hindu Website, n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2012.